When You Need To Get Out of a Financial Pickle

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If you’re in a bind and need some quick cash it can be a very frustrating and emotionally desperate position to be in, as nobody likes to be backed into a corner… but when unfortunate circumstances do prevail in addition to cash, what you really need are some options!

The sense of powerlessness that comes from the emotional state of desperation tends to rob you of your ability to respond appropriately in a practical sense, as people often end up feeling so panicked they are like a rabbit in headlights.

Prevention is often better than cure, and having a decent amount of savings would be the ideal – but not everyone is in the position to have cash reserves lying around, so this article provides inspiration as to how to get a prompt cash injection to help you through difficult times.  

There’s often the option of getting credit in the form of an unsecured loan, but remember, the problem is often not the lack of resources you face – it’s the lack of resourcefulness and applied creativity in terms of finding a solution.

Here are a few interesting options:

BECOME A GUINEA PIG Similar to market research, yet with a lot more skin in the game (quite literally) is the idea of becoming a medical research participant (aka guinea pig) where drug testing companies will provide a sample of its medication or placebo, and then perform certain medical tests; all of which are heavily regulated and monitored to ensure safety, but could cause some discomfort and do have inherent risk – but the money’s substantial. 

You could be paid upwards of $3,500 for a reasonably involved, residential experience.  There are obvious downsides, but this can offer a legal way to make a significant amount of money for not much effort, in a short amount of time.  In the alternative, a slightly less extreme version would be to get paid to donate blood!

SELL STUFF ON EBAY You might be surprised by just how much some of your stuff is worth, particularly if you happen to have any collectibles lying around.  Another thing you can do is to look in the free adverts section, upcycle, and promote items on eBay or even, with a little creative flair, you could create an Etsy store.  Try to think outside the box in terms of what are the growing trends and you can make a fortune.  A further suggestion, with regard to eBay, is to purchase things that haven’t been marketed very well, and simply list them with a much more captivating value proposition with some great photos and descriptive words – and for this extra bit of effort, you can easily double your money.

ODD JOBS There’s always a way to create value.  Take a step out of the thirsty teenager’s book; where they’ll knock on doors time and time again – mowing laws, cleaning windows, walking dogs, chopping down trees, doing ironing… whatever it is, they’ll be open to doing it.  There are plenty of things people will pay money for, particularly the time-starved, that you can offer to help them with.  It might sound a little embarrassing to be knocking on doors like this but positioned correctly, with a nice uplifting story as to why you’re doing what you’re doing – you will be amazed by how open people will be to paying you some cash for odd jobs they need doing.

In addition to the ideas above, which really are just to kick-start your creative juices, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of asking; if you are open, honest and direct with friends and family about the situation you’re in, what you need, how they can help, and what you will do to ensure it is repaid – you’ll be amazed by how giving people can be.